Consumers always have and always will seek the path of least resistance to get the best deal they can when they purchase a new or pre-owned vehicle; and you can't blame them.  Similarly, it is understandable that auto dealers always have and always will try to define what the best deal is for their customers; and it typically includes preserving a fair profit.  Unfortunately, their objectives aren't always weighted the same; even though they should be.

Today's internet educated…

I hit all of my closing ratio targets for all of my stores, which is how I get paid. Great month, so why am I nervous?

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I work in an area where TrueCar has a contract with every high-volume dealer for every franchise, and that TrueCar has been supplying more and more quality leads to our dealer group over the last several months. For April, they were nearly TIED with our own website for deals.

SEO, SEM, lead process, remarketing,…

You have heard it before and you know it’s true; knowledge plus action equals power.  Your knowledge is based on your expertise on your product offering, needs analysis and the ability to offer solutions.

Competence comes from knowledge and the route of knowledge is grounded in continuous education. …

The Admiral Auto Group Raises over $900 for March for Babies!

For the 2nd year, a team of Admiral employees, friends and their families participated in the March for Babies walk which took place on April 27th at the Ocean City Boardwalk. Thanks to the The Admiral Auto Group including…

Stapleton's session, entitled "The Evolution of Automotive Tool Sets" will focus on how dealers can use the latest tools and technology to reach and influence car buyers.

"Sean's expertise and knowledge in consumer behavior, marketing and retention, and leveraging automotive CRM best practices will provide dealers with actionable learnings they can immediately take back to their stores," says Brian Skutta, vice president and general manager of…

Last Thursday, Facebook launched Facebook Newswire. In partnership with Storyful, a social media content verifier and aggregator, Facebook has entered the business of delivering news to its community. This service is designed to identify hot news topics and articles. It does this…

Is your dealership ready for the real-time shopper? With competition heating up in the auto industry, car dealerships need to shift mobile marketing into overdrive to enable a new, highly effective target and real-time approach to customers. As shoppers shift freely between devices, your dealership’s online presence must adapt.

Major online vehicle shopping sites are seeing the effects of the change firsthand. According to DealerRefresh, almost 50% of the 30 million…

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/franklin-coveys-the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-tickets-11494689927

Sean V. Bradley & Karen Bradley Will Be Training The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - June 17th…

By Brian Pasch

There is much misinformation about changing website platforms, and if you plan properly, the transition can go very smoothly. The key is to get all the parties together to discuss integration to your dealership's DMS, inventory management tools, CRM platform, advertising…

Has anyone heard of Strong Automotive Merchandising?  My General Manager signed up with them for an e-mail campaign and they are claiming they sold 42 cars for us over the last two months--- that in mind, our monthly sales have stayed steady, not increased.  In addition, they have directed a whopping 3,000 new visitors to our website with 0 conversions.  It sounds like malarkey to me and I don't buy into it.  Just wanted to see if anyone else had experience with this company.  O, and one…

Nearly every week we spend training in a Dealership, we try to identify and help correct deficiencies in production, CSI and dealership employee performance. The rub is that every dealership has different issues and problems.

Sometimes it’s the training, sometimes it’s the employee and sometimes it’s the management.

And 100% of the time when there is little progress in performance…

With this Women’s Wednesday we will focus on the Service Drive at your store.

Women buy a car about once every 6-7 years, but they visit the service lane several times a year. The good news? This is where on-going loyalty is developed. The not-so-great news is that 42% of women report they no longer go to the service department where they purchased their vehicle. And, you will never know it is their LAST visit, because they may smile, pay the bill, and never say a word, even…

I do a lot of work with our sales people at AutoNetTV. One of the recurring statements/themes in our coachings and trainings is, “Did you focus on the value?” One of the analogies we like to use is; you walk into my office and I hold up a pair of scissors. I ask, “Do you want to buy these for $2 dollars?” Typically the response is, “No, I don’t need scissors and if I did I…

One of our dealers asked me this question: As an owner and GM; what's the one thing we can do to increase leads, retain customers, grow profits, attract & keep great people and ensure my company's longevity?

My answer to him was Put your employees first and your customers second.

In 2010 I attend a seminar featuring Tom Peters "In Search Of Excellence" he discussed this very topic. Business…

I read a whitepaper recently by The Training Associates comparing the cost of staff trainers to contract trainers. Because in the NCM Institute Manager Training Survey several respondents cited their use of staff trainers as to why they do not use outside training providers, I was eager…

Use automated marketing and real-time customer flow communication to effectively build loyalty and personalize the relationship between customers and the retail dealership. Automated marketing boosts customers’ conversions and response rates to marketing campaigns by 16%, because automated campaigns are more relevant to each unique customer’s needs. Just by setting up simple campaigns, the dealership can quickly cater to…

by Steve Conner

Responding to your customer’s interest in your vehicles consistently and with the right persistence is a very difficult task for sales managers at most dealerships. According to recent research published at the Harvard Business Review, over 30% of leads are never called at all. There are four parts of the published research to digest and learn from to apply solid policies to your dealership’s lead management program.

The following parts of the study include best…

I recently read a very thought-provoking article asking this very question; “Is the simple fact that the customer has money enough to make the purchase a determining factor for you?” Too often the customers dealerships try and attract aren’t necessarily the customers they really should be…